A quarter of women have started dieting in preparation for the Christmas season, a new survey has found.

The research questioned 1,459 women aged between 18 and 35 years old. Initially participants were asked whether they gained weight over the Christmas season of which 74 per cent of women answered ‘yes.’ One in five (19 per cent) said they didn’t.

More than half of the respondents admitted to dieting before the Christmas season, with 48 per cent doing so in an effort to allow for the weight they were likely to gain over the festive period.

Despite having three months left until the official start of the Christmas party season, some women have already began their pre-Christmas diet.

The survey conducted by MyCelebrityFashion revealed that 24 per cent of women have already committed to shifting the pounds to fit into the desired party dresses in an effort to wow colleagues on Christmas party nights out.

Even though there are 13 weeks left to go, women are already watching what they eat. Surprisingly more women diet this side of Christmas than in the new year. According to the survey, half of the women questioned confessed they diet in the run up to the big day, but only a third bother to restart their diet in the new year.

Andy Barr, marketing director of MyCelebrityFashion told PR Log: “Although it’s quite frightening to admit, Christmas really isn’t too far away now and a quarter of the women who took part in the study are already starting their preparatory diets. Whether or not they’re as organised when it comes to starting the Christmas shopping remains to be seen!”